International Journal of Research in Arts and Social Sciences
Vol 5
Supervisory Mechanism And Educational Quality Improvement
Angie Oboegbulem
Abstract
There are gaps or missing link in teacher preparation in Nigeria, such as
limited contents of teaching subjects as well as deficiencies in
pedagogy and length of practice coupled with poor provision and lack
of maintenance of school facilities which affect the quality of
instruction in Nigerian schools. There is therefore the need for
supervision by experts who should be knowledgeable, committed and
tactful enough to sense teachers „failings, suggest appropriate solutions
and evaluate the progress of corrective programmes in order to achieve
improved school instruction. This paper presents the historical
development of school supervision in Nigeria, nature and scope of
supervision, techniques of supervision, its characteristic functions of
both the federal and state inspectorate supervisory services coupled
with problems of school supervision and the concepts of quality and
criteria for quality improvement in our educational sector.
Introduction
Education is gaining more prominence in the affairs of Nigerians more than ever before.
It is perceived as a way of answering many questions and solving a myriad of problems.
As a result, more funds are being committed to education both by the governments
(federal, state and local government) and private citizen therefore there is a greater
demand for probity and accountability. The maintenance of standards or quality
improvement and assurance are now the concern of all enlightened parents or members of
the society hence the need for proper supervision.
Meaning and Nature of Supervision
The word supervision derived its origin from a Latin word “Super-video, meaning “To
Oversee”. Supervision is an essential part of any organizational set-up. In education, it is
that phase of school administration, that sees to the improvement of instruction.
Emeterom (2007) sees supervision as a process of bringing about improvement in
instruction by working with people who are working with pupils and students. It is a
service rendered to teachers which is directed towards controlling the quality of teaching.
Supervision tires to control what is taught, who is taught and the impact of what is taught
on the learner. Supervisory mechanism is a combination or integration of a number of
processes, procedures and conditions that are consciously designed with the sole aim of
enhancing the work effectiveness of teachers and other personnel involved in the
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schooling process, and school personnel remain one of the most significant resources in
the schools. (Eneastor and Azubike, 2009).
Supervision has undergone some changes unlike in the past, when supervisors
concerned themselves with improvement of the teacher and his work. The activities of
supervision then were mainly authoritative and descriptive. It was not until the past few
decades that supervision began to be seen as a co-operative activity towards enhancing
quality assurance in schools. However, quality assurance in education is the efficient
management, monitoring, evaluation and review of the resource inputs and
transformation process (teaching and learning) to produce quality outputs (students) that
meet set standard and expectations of the society.
Raouf, (2008) opines that quality assurance in education is the process of
ensuring continuous improvement in all aspects of education business in an institution of
learning, in order to satisfy the needs and expectations of the institution‟s customers (the
society). This approach is built around the premise that every step of the process of a
service and of an operation has room for improvement. This was corroborated by
Demings cycle of continuous improvement which is normally based upon plan, do, check
and act cycle (PDCA). This process enables the supervisor or school administrator to
regularly monitor, asses and evaluate the resources inputs by identifying the Key
elements that need improvement and way of addressing these elements, implementing
plan, analyzing the result to ensure that significant agreement exists between the original
goals and what is actually achieved by conducting further work through feedback and
review with those concerned (Temponi 2005).
A critical look at the definition shows that quality assurance in education
encompasses systematic management, monitoring and evaluation procedures adopted to
measure the performance of school administrators (principals) teachers and students
against educational objectives to ensure best practices in resource inputs, utilization and
curriculum management by the principals in order to produce students that achieve the set
educational goals in our institutions of learning.
Historical Development of School Supervision in Nigeria: The significance of
historical knowledge in discussing contemporary issues cannot be over-emphasized.
Supervision as a field of educational practice with clearly delineated roles and
responsibilities did not fall from the space rather it emerged slowly as a distinct practice,
always in relation to the institutional, academic, cultural and professional dynamics that
have historically generated the complex agenda of schooling. In colonial era, history has
it that schools followed the establishment of mission outpost in Nigeria. These schools
were under the full control of the funding missions, but when the government took over
schools from the missionaries, the attempt at monitoring school programmes in West
Africa was first noticeable with the promulgation of Education Ordinances in 1882. The
ordinances then covered grants-in-Aid to schools for building structures, providing
Advisory Board on Education and an inspectorate to serve the colonies.
Be that as it may, the history of supervision as a formal activity exercised by
educational administration within a system of schools did not begin until the formation of
common school in late 1890s. Based on that, an educational department was established
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in 1906 and a Directorship of Education along with sub-ordinance post were created in
1930s. This is the precursor of the present Ministries of Education and invariably
inspectorate services. It is also pertinent to mention or outline the five stages in the
evolutions of the styles employed in the supervision of school personnel in words of
Adiele, (1997) as follows: Administrative Inspection, Scientific Inspection, Democratic
Supervision or Human Relations Supervision, Neo-Scientific Supervision Era and Human
Resources Supervision Era.
Administrative Inspection: This era covers 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century.
The focus of inspection was on the personality of the teacher and the effectiveness of
classroom management and maintenance of the school plant.
Scientific Supervision (1910-1930): This coincided with the scientific management and
industrial revolution in Europe and America. The concern of the industrialists was the
maximization of profit. The view held was that workers are passive and that increase in
their pay will boost efficiency and enhance production in organization. Fredrick Taylor
and other exponents of scientific management were behind this movement and confirmed
that monetary incentives will attract workers. This approach, however, impinged on the
school system and inspection became autocratic and “snoopervisory”. There was no
consideration for the teacher and their welfare were neglected. Teachers had no
contribution whatsoever into supervision and curriculum development.
Democratic Supervision or Human Relation Supervision (1930-1950): In the school
system teachers were well recognized and were given co-operation and assistance as
required. This era, introduced such ideas as group dynamics, policy making by
consultation, diffusion of authority, vertical and horizontal communication and
delegation into educational supervision.
The Neo-Scientific Supervision Era (1960-1970): The major criticism of the human
relation era was that it was too soft on the personnel at the detriment of the school goals
and objectives. The focus was on the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.
Various forms of supervisory approach came into play such as Management by
Objectives (MBO) Performance Objectives Systems Analysis, Cost Benefit Analysis and
accountability became the watchword.
Human Resources Supervision Era (1970-Date): The motivation of teachers towards
enhanced productivity is the concern of this era. All efforts to improve teachers‟ welfare
and job satisfaction are seen as means of improving their performance in the school
system, A number of capacity building initiatives are being taken and school base
professional support is being encouraged. Having discussed the historical development of
supervision, it is also important to know the techniques involved in supervision.
TECHNIQUES OF SUPERVISION/MODELS
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Techniques are ways or models of executing or doing things. Techniques of
supervision are important for improving teaching and learning situation in schools. One
of the major techniques is theClinical Classroom Supervision: This model in words of Oraemesi (1997) aims at
improving the teacher activity in the classroom. It is called clinical in the sense that it
utilizes both the counseling and the “skill training” models as well as taking into account
teacher behavour and feelings in a supportive, analytical and non-evaluative context.
Clinical supervision has five stages.
Pre-observation conference: Here the supervisor and the teacher establish contact and
reach agreement about the reasons for supervision and how it will be carried out.
Agreement is also reached on set objectives in the lesson, against which the teaching will
be evaluated.
Actual Classroom Observation: The supervisor observes and carefully records the
classroom interaction possibly verbatim. Generally according to professional ethics, the
teacher is never interrupted or corrected before his students except in extra ordinary
circumstances.
Analysis of Data: Data here means all information, that is, notes and tapes made by the
supervisor during the classroom interaction. After observation, the supervisor analyses
the data collected and looks for patterns of teaching behaviour, generates hypotheses to
explain what was observed and decides what aspects should be discussed. To facilitate
teachers‟ feedback, it is advisable to group the feedback into positive and negative after
analysis.
Post-Observation Conference: A conference with the teacher is then arranged by the
supervisor who gives the teacher guidance and feedback on his performance. The
supervisor here starts with the positive feedback, then the negative.
Supervisor’s Self Evaluation: After the conference the supervisor analyses his own
performance as a supervisor. He evaluates his supervisory roles in the classroom
interaction. He might pose questions to himself such as have I helped this teacher in his
professional growth? What positive assistance did I offer him? Did I help him solve his
problem? After this, the supervisor tries to make plans for further supervision where he
will then avoid his past mistakes and tries to implement the resolutions taken at self
evaluation. This model though time consuming, aims at assisting teachers develop
objective ways of looking at their performance.
Skill Training Model: Skill training model. This model is by and large diagnostic and
prescriptive in nature. Under the method, the supervisor focuses on teacher development
through training him on certain skills. The supervisor using this model decides with his
teacher those aspects of teaching behaviour that result in effective teaching. He will then
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determine the method of data collection of the actual teaching behaviour of the teachers
and analysis of data for strengths and weaknesses and lastly suggests remedies to
improve the teachers weak areas.
Group Supervision: This involves supervising team-teaching, that is a group or a team
of teachers teaching one class. Every member of the team taking his or her turn to teach
within the time allowed. This approach may arise when a supervisor arranges it
principally to promote a learning experience for the teachers.
The Counseling Model: In this model, the supervisor interacts with the teacher outside
the classroom. He does not directly gather data about the teachers‟ classroom behaviour
rather he is concerned about teacher‟s awareness. This model is highly sophisticated
since it requires training in ego-counseling, psychotherapy, client-centered therapy and
sensitivity training. This is exclusively reserved for trained counseling supervisors
(Okeke 1997).
Democratic Type of Supervision: Democratic supervision like those above are the most
modern style educators advocate for supervisors, especially the clinical model.
Inter-School Visitation Technique: This is one of the techniques of supervision
employed in modern times to assist teachers grow professionally and individually. It has
lasting benefits because various categories of teachers in one school are given the
opportunity to visit other categories of teachers in other schools in the classroom. This is
not a social visit but academic type where there is cross-pollination of ideas to improve
teaching and learning process.
Characteristics Of Traditional Cum Modern School Supervision
Traditional inspection was centered around the teacher and classroom and has been based
largely upon the philosophy that teachers being undertrained, need careful direction and
training. Under this, the teachers face degrees of embarrassment, intimidations and
harassment especially when they lack the required and expected goal set.
The traditional inspection, in Nigeria context is not designed to assist teachers
improve instruction, rather it was meant to checkmate teachers activities to know whether
they conform to the laid down rules and regulations in teaching profession; that is to
know whether teachers are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Oraemesi, (1997)
asserts that the divisional inspectorate of education in some states are concerned with
inspection, that is, maintenance of standards while the managers of school (state
education commission) are concerned with supervision. In traditional school supervision,
supervisors were hostile and intimidative to teachers particularly in their role disposition
which usually occurs in external supervision style. Modern supervision, is characterized
by co-operative work and teachers are removed from state of embarrassment,
intimidation and fear and they assume true position as a co-operating professional
member of the total group concerned. Under modern supervision, supervisors regard
teachers as professional colleagues who share ideas on weaknesses and strengths in their
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work and adopt the new techniques to improve standards or quality assurance.
Supervisors under this style endulge in coping with the observed problems that face the
teachers in the classroom, taking into account teachers‟ psychological, emotional and
personal aspects into consideration. The supervisor is seen as providing instructional
leadership, helping teachers to teach better and solving their instructional and classroom
problems, not just policing the teachers as it was in the traditional inspectorate style.
Finally, modern supervision is internal supervision meant for improvement of teaching
and learning situations.
Functions Of Federal And State Inspectorate Supervisory Services
Before delving into the functions of federal and state inspectorate supervisory services, it
will be pertinent to know the conceptual meaning of school inspection. In the oxford
advanced dictionary of current, English, the word. “inspect” means examine carefully or
visit officially to see that rules are obeyed, that work is done properly”. Beyond this
definition the main emphasis of inspection is on the improvement of teaching and
learning activities in the school. It tends to critically examine and evaluate the school as a
place for teaching and learning enterprise. Inspection focuses on monitoring and
evaluation of academic performance and development in schools. It is carried out with
the intention of maintaining and improving on the quality of learning as well as
improving all factors that affect teaching and learning in our school system.
In view of the above, inspection is always initiated by agents external to the
school. These agents called inspectors usually come from either the federal, state or local
government inspectorate services. As mentioned earlier, their focus is on monitoring,
evaluating and facilitating the teaching and learning activities in schools. They ensure
that appropriate teaching method are used and where deficiencies have been observed,
they often recommend the use of remedial action. At the end of the inspection visits,
reports are usually written and identified strength and weakness of the school with
appropriate recommendation for improvement are made.
Some of the functions performed by either the federal or state inspectorate
supervisory services are the following:-To get the government approval of schools
especially the new ones, which should be inspected to ascertain their suitability. In such
circumstance the schools are expected to meet certain standards in terms of caliber of
professional teachers, the school plant (nature and suitability of building), equipment,
curriculum etc. Schools found lacking will not be approved or be considered illegal
schools. (FRN, 2004).
Another Function is the Inspection for Operational Improvement: The purpose of
this is to highlight areas of deficiency in the system with a view to ensuring
improvement. In this premise, a team of inspectors visit a school and spend 2 to 5 days
examining the various aspects of the school system in operation. Records are taken for
the staffing students‟ population and composition, the school finance, the academic
programmes (syllabus, scheme of work, written work, students progress records ) the
inspectors then holds conference with principal and staff and then return to their base to
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write up reports on their findings. Such reports are valid assessments of the school system
operation.
Inspection of School for Programme Recognition: The reason for this type of
inspection is to get examination bodies such as West African Examination Council
(WAEC) to recognize and approve the schools academic programmes. In the case of a
new school, a team of inspectors will visit the affected school and examine all the
subjects in terms of quality, quantity, staffing and equipment in which the school wants to
present candidates. The reports of such a visit will then be sent to examination body for
approval. In case of an old school that wants to present candidates in a new subject, the
inspection will be directed in that new subject with a view to ascertaining the suitability
or preparedness of the institution.
Inspection of School as a Result of Situational Demand: The situational type of
inspection is the type carried out during a period of crises or emergency in a school. For
this purpose, a panel is set up by the Ministry of Education to investigate emergent cases
such as students protest or riots, school-community conflicts, (staff-verses staff, studentstaff or staff-principal) or even cases of financial impropriety or other type of
misconduct. During the course of duty of such panel it may wade into other school
related issues such as finance, programmes and facilities. The objective of the inspection
would centre on the investigation of, and reporting on a specific case or situation rather
than on evaluating the school systems production process for setting of standards or for
accreditation.
Problems Of School Supervision In Nigeria
Educational supervision is one of the many instruments for the quality control system of
the educational enterprise. It is bedeviled with a lot of problems such as:
Lack of Mobility: This creates transportation problems to supervisors especially in
reaching remote schools in the satellite villages.
Inadequate Exposure of Supervisor to New Trends in Education: Change is the only
permanent phenomenon in human experiences. It usually occurs particularly in human
endeavour that involve several researches as it is to education. Some supervisor may be
oblivious of current happenings especially when it has to do with sciences and
innovations. For instance, in studying a subject like chemistry, a new formular or
nomenclature may be introduced and if the supervisor is not current, he or she may not be
aware thereby, discussing obsolete issues at the expense of issues in vogue.
Ignoring Supervision Reports: Some principals and teachers may not respond to reports
due to some powers behind him or her especially those who have god-fathers in
government.
Dumping People in the Inspectorate Unit As-Punishment: Inspectors or supervisors
might use their position in government to punish those they consider their foes. Another
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issue is poor planning or scheduling of supervision. Planning is the pivot that rotates any
organization to success. If one fails to plan well he has already planned to fail. It is the
parameter that measures success especially in area that is sensitive like supervision which
requires subjects specialists.
The Bully Posture of Supervisors: In the past supervision was a threat to principals and
classroom teachers as they were usually subjected to criticism rather than a guide to
achieve a set goal. Despite the present day styles of supervision, where supervisors see
teachers as professional colleagues, there are still those who show up authority by
intimidating and harassing teachers on their weaknesses.
Negative Attitude of School Head-Teachers and Members of Staff to Supervisor:
Observations show that some head teachers and staff do not perform their assigned roles
to improve teaching and learning process. It ranges from non-compliance to rules and
regulations to higher level of non-challant behaviour or open challenges to supervisors.
Some staff do not keep up to date lesson notes and carelessly absent themselves from
duty. All these pose problems to supervision of instructions.
Concepts Of Quality And The Criteria For Quality Improvement
Supervision is a means of advising, stimulating, guiding, improving, refreshing,
encouraging and overseeing certain groups with the hope of seeking their co-operation to
improve quality standard. It is the practice of monitoring the performance of schools,
staff, students, noting the merits and demerits of using modern techniques to ameliorate
the flaws of teachers thereby improving the standard of the school and achieving
educational goals (Ogunsaju 1993).
In line with the above, Odiba citing Bateman in Alaba (2010) stated that some of
the benefits associated with consistent quality assurance and continous quality
improvement measure include:  The establishment of high standard academic excellence which will go a long
way to enhance the school‟s reputation and image.
 Improvement of communication across the school system
 Improvement of outcome so that the policies and procedures are constantly
revisited through analysis of the delivery of teaching and learning.
 Identification of systems strengths and weaknesses
 Determination of programme effectiveness and
 Increase in capacity to secure funding and refinement service delivery
Concept of Quality: Quality is perceived differently by various professionals. For
instance an accountant sees the quality of his work in terms of cost effectiveness; a
customer is likely to judge it on the basis of its reliability. However, quality is something
everyone considers good and wants to have (Cole, 1996). Quality has to do with whether
something is good or bad, it is about the standard of something when compared with
other things. It therefore presupposes that there is a set standard.
Adegbesan (2010) Conceptualizes quality from three perspectives:
I. Efficiency in the meeting of goals
II. Relevance to human and environmental conditions and needs.
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III. Exploration of new ideas, the pursuit of excellence and encouragement of
creativity.
The Criteria for Quality Improvement: Quality improvement practices in Nigeria
education is based essentially on school inspection or supervision, monitoring and
control. To enhance quality improvement, there would be provision and rehabilitation of
school facilities to assist in the delivery of quality. For the available facilities, some
intervention is needed to plan and utilize such facilities effectively in teaching and
learning processes. It is however better and more rewarding and less costly to take steps
to prevent failure and wastage before they happen in order to ensure for quality
improvement which is preventive rather than corrective.
Furthermore, to enhance quality improvement there should also be in-service
education for classroom teachers to up date their knowledge base and render better
services in planning and implementing learning experiences. There should also be preservice training to improve the teaching function which includes holiday university
course (sandwich), sponsored staff development course, workshops, conferences,
supervision of students teachers and inter-visitation of staff.
These pre-service programmes will go a long way in improving the teaching –
learning activities in our schools since supervisors and teachers would have acquired
knowledge that will help them improve their teaching and supervisory skills. One of the
goals of Nigeria in education system as identified in the national policy on Education
(FRN, 2004) is “the acquisition of appropriate skills and the development of mental,
physical and social abilities and competencies as equipment for the, individual to live in
and contribute to the development of the society” (p.8). With the acquisition of these
skills, supervisors and teachers would have acquired diversified knowledge that would
improve the quality of our education, reduce incidence of unemployment, produce
graduates who can vigorously pursue the goals of Nigeria education.
Conclusion
The desire for quality education is a generally shared feeling in Nigeria as in many other
countries of the world, though quality production is the responsibility of all stakeholders,
schools in particular play key role in quality process. The traditional practices of quality
control through school inspection, auditing and monitoring are retroactive actions taken
after possible damages have been done. Total quality control involving both the
supervisors and those to be supervised, the provision of instructional materials and school
plant are suggested as better alternative for quality improvement because that might
prevent wastages. However, the goal of total quality is to develop a culture of total
commitment to quality process in the school so that wastage should be prevented before it
occurs.
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